Home and Wandering
Going Pains
The Lovely and the Liminal
Monkey See, Monkey Prototype
Where We're Going, We'll Still Need Them
100
The Icelandic term sólarsteinn can be translated as:
Sun stone
100
What is neophilia?
Love for trying new things
100
Pools, a 2024 horror game, was inspired by what?
The Backrooms
100
What is wireframing?
Blueprints of a plan, usually the visual plans for a website (eg. the layout)
100
What is inductive charging?
Wireless charging
200
The earliest compasses were invented in China. Describe what these compasses were called and how they worked.
South pointing spoons or south pointers; magnetized bar of lodestone that always pointed in the same direction
200
You're a "Millennial" if you are born between ___ and ___.
1981 and 1995 (ish)
200
What are the two main characters in "Waiting for Godot" called?
Estragon and Vladimir
200
Who received the patent for today's modern ironing board?
Sarah Boone
200
A super famous Beatles album shares the same name as this road. What is the road/album called?
Abbey Road
300
Who inspired the movie "The Terminal"?
Mehran Karimi Nasseri, an Iranian refugee who was forced to live in the Paris's Charles de Gaulle Airport for 18 years
300
Featured in the 1954 edition of the Tatler Magazine, hairdresser Mr. Alexi describes the experience of ________ as "‘Neither fish, fowl nor good red herring – that feeling of being betwixt and between.’
being a teenager
300
The following lyrics are the translated lyrics of a Taiwanese Yilan Folk song. Guess the title!
The train goes, chugga choo drip, into the tunnel.
In the tunnel drops of water fall, drip, drip, drop, chuga choo.
Chugga chugga, drip drop, choo choo!
Drip, Drip, Drip
300
Why was Elon Musk's "Tesla Bot" prototype reveal an absolute flop?
Because it was a dude in a bodysuit who danced to electronic dance music. Like what even was the prototype
300
Explain what Braess’s Paradox is.
Adding one or more roads can actually slow overall traffic -> drivers will move selfishly, which slows stuff down overall
400
Below is an inuksuk, or stone cairn, which served a variety of purposes. Give at least three examples.
Honoring shaman's graves, acting as dummies to funnel caribou, marking meat caches, marking Arctic char spawning grounds, geographical features (rivers, channels, hazards etc), marking ways home
400
I am so drowsy, here listening to the wild dressage of a housefly, thinking about the loyal robots in my paperbacks. Thinking about the little chalet I would have built for you on Neptune.
A Neptune indiscernible from Vermont.
These are the last lines of a poem titled what, written by who?
“A Letter from Isaac Asimov to His Wife Janet, Written on His Deathbed” — David Berman
400
The artwork this meme is made from is called what, by who?
Christina's World by Andrew Wyeth
400
In 2018, Google CEO Sundar Pichai demonstrated an AI-powered voice assistant that allegedly called a local hair salon and a local restaurant, live, to make reservations. What exposed this as a scam?
Both businesses apparently picked up the phone and replied "How can I help you?", but none of the salons/restaurants in the area actually answer that way
400
The world's longest bus route, which takes 5 days, starts where and ends where?
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Lima, Peru
500
Who is Edward Snowden, and why was him getting asylum in Russia politically challenging for Putin?
Former US National Security Agency intelligence contractor who revealed the US & UK government had mass surveillance programs spying on citizens; he fled to Russia for asylum after the US wanted to imprison him - sending him back to the US would've helped US-Russia relations, but cost Putin domestic support
500
A 2004 poem written by Thich Nhat Hanh centers on how on people continue to live on in the little facets of nature and humanity even after death, both brutal and lovely. For example, he references being a violent political leader, a pirate, a 12 year old girl, an arms merchant, a frog, a bird, a caterpillar. What is this poem called?
Please Call Me By My True Names
500
In Critique of Judgment (1790), what argument does philosopher Immanuel Kant argue about beauty?
That although beauty doesn't necessarily have a "purpose", we still appreciate it purely for its form. True appreciation is separate from any purposes/gains/desires it serves for you
500
Explain how in theory, Amazon's "Just Walk Out" stores were supposed to work, and how they worked in reality.
Expectation: customers walk in, grab whatever they want, and leave - AI powered tech took a phone scan at the door, and then the customer would be billed at their Amazon account.
Reality: 1,000+ Indian people manually reviewing transactions
500
What brave woman, born in Germany in 1849, can be credited with the fact that the Mercedes-Benz exists and why?
Cäcilie Bertha Ringe, who drove her husband's Patent-Motorwagen (prototype car) around Germany to show people that it worked / visit her mother, causing his sales to boom - she oversaw and managed Benz & Co., also providing valuable insights to streamline the car